Witchcraft Accusations in Nigeria: Child Abuse, Mob Violence, and Legal Challenges
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Advocacy for Alleged Witches
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/05/25
In Akwa Ibom and Cross River States between 2000 and 2010, 15,000 children were branded as witches. They received this epithet mostly from churches. With this, they garnered abuse, sometimes extreme. One thousand were reportedly murdered. It is a deeply rooted superstition. So bad that UNHCR aid made a call for urgent measures for the protection of children accused of witchcraft, particularly from consequences of abuse, displacement, and trafficking.
The IHRDA, Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network, and the University of Pretoria sued Nigeria on December 9, 2021. They did this before the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child based on failures to protect children.
We welcomed the sentencing to death of five men in Kano Statemin December 2023 for beating Ms. Abubakar to death, who was accused of being a witch. Although we are opposed to the death penalty. We saw this as a landmark in bolding perpetrators accountable.
On March 28, 2025, a mob in Edo State killed 16 people who were suspected of kidnapping after finding homemade weapons in their vehicle. It was an underscoring of the rise in extrajudicial mob violence tied to theft and witchcraft fears.
All this is a backdrop to the events of April and May of 2025. Around 10:30 p.m. local time, the villagers of Gidan Katakare (Birnin Magaji LGA, Zamfara) made an accusation. They accused Haruna Lawali of bewitching Nafisa Masa’udu after a sudden fall to illness. A mob went into Lawali’s home, asking for explanations. A Dane gun was fired. Sharahu Haruna was fatally wounded. Haruna tried shielding Lawali.
Police from the Birnin Magaji Division arrived on the scene. They documented it. They released Haruna’s body to the family for an Islamic burial. An investigation into the community’s role was launched. Several articles were written in Daily Post Nigeria, Sahara Reporters, The Hope Newspaper, theinfostride.com, and Africa Press.
Dr. Leo Igwe wrote an article entitled “Is Witchcraft Justiciable Under Nigerian Law?” Igwe clarifies that Nigerian law criminalizes witchcraft accusations and identification but not witchcraft itself. This is a reference to Section 210 (Criminal Code) and parallel Penal Code sections. The investigation is open. No arrests or accountability have been made to date.
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